Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I was thinking of replacing my handy JVC-GR-DX37AG Camcorder (which I have to fork out RM 319 to fix recently due to a malfunction recording button, repairing high-tech gadget do cost a BOMB to repair after warranty). I thought of getting the one of those HDD (hard disk) based camcorder, like JVC GZ-MG330AG. The main issue for me is that these HDD camcorders do not work on high altitude (above 10000ft, due to the hard disk need external air-pressure to spin). Not many people know about this (even the technician at JVC service centre does not know about this).

So, perhaps a memory-based camcorder would be a solution for high altitude? I found JVC Everio GZ-MS100 which use SD / SDHC memory card (SD card have a current limit of 4GB, which is sufficient for 1 hour of recording). It seems to have almost the same specification as JVC-GR-DX37AG, and had an official price tag of USD 350 (about RM 1120, and could be lower). I mean, this is really great news. The next time old Camcorder spoil again, this should be a viable alternative. I think this model is not available in Malaysia yet, so probably a few months more.

Other alternative include canon Canon FS100, which retail for USD 399. These sub USD 500 camcorder are actually Standard Definition camcorder (around 1MP). Canon do offer HD (High-Definition) flash memory camcorder such as Vixia HF100 with better recording quality and internal flash RAM, but these babies are over my budget as a hobby.

But I still have a question, can JVC Everio GZ-MS100 (or any memory-base camcorder) can actually work on high altitude?